How FG Aims to Solve Housing Deficits With ₦21tn

By Tolulope Oke

The Federal Government (FG) has indicated through its Bank of Industry (BOI) that N21 trillion is needed to finance the housing sector in Nigeria and close the estimated 28 million housing gap throughout the entire country.

According to a recent analysis on Nigeria’s housing market produced by BOI, “access to affordable housing is becoming more challenging for millions of residents due to an increase in urban population, rising building prices, and diminishing household income.

The report, titled “Institutional turnaround for the next level,” stated that while the Federal Government budgeted N470bn for housing in 2022, the industry would need trillions of naira to close Nigeria’s housing gap.

The bank stated that “N21trn (is the) amount required to fund the housing sector,” and that “28 million units (is the expected) housing deficit” under the portion of the report devoted to the Nigerian housing market, adding that 95.1 million of the estimated 206 million people in Nigeria were considered to be living in poverty, making it impossible for them to access their own homes.

As stated by the bank, mortgage interest rates should be subsidized in order to make them more attractive and affordable, hence it was indicated that subsidized mortgage rates would be required.

“The process of accessing the National Housing Fund should be made more efficient to improve access to the fund,” the BOI report stated.

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It added that there should be “increased awareness of the availability/requirements for accessing the National Housing Fund and access to roads, power, water among others are critical to housing development especially for those outside urban areas.

“Accessibility to infrastructure will encourage people to move away from crowded urban centres to developing areas. Adopt digital technologies such as virtual tours, augmented reality, etc, in showcasing properties so as to generate interest in the buyer’s mind.”

It also added that the government should make sure that all rules pertaining to NHF home ownership are in line with contemporary reality and are beneficial to interested parties. Prospects would be more likely to buy if property records were digitalized and freely available.